No Bedrooms?
The Devenish Apartments is architecturally and historically significant as one of the largest, most elaborate and well-known apartment buildings to be built in Calgary prior to the First World War. When built in 1911, the Devenish Apartments featured the most striking architectural design of any apartment building in the city and was touted as the largest and most up-to-date apartment building, not only in Calgary, but in Western Canada.
Originally, the building’s roofline boasted distinctively curved Jacobean-style gables and castellated towers, exemplifying the Queen Anne Revival style – a style popular for significant apartment house designs in Western Canada. While these rooftop elements have since been removed, the building is distinguished by its lengthy red-brick exterior, sandstone detailing, numerous porches, and its enormous balconies supported by massive brackets.
Local architect Alexander Pirie was in charge of the building’s design. He was also responsible for the design of Calgary’s Grunwald (St. Regis) Hotel (1911-13) and several apartment buildings in the city in the late 1920s.
Indiana-born real estate developer and oilman Oscar Grant Devenish moved to Calgary in 1902 and built the luxury, red-brick, gothic design apartment building in 1911. Tenants shared the building’s sunrooms, steam laundry and “odorless” garbage incinerator.
To maximize the number of apartments (57), the building originally had no bedrooms. Yes, you read right! A murphy bed slid out from the living room wall and a double bed slid our from the bottom drawer of the dining room china cabinet. And we thought micro apartments were a 21st century invention!
The building eventually began to decline and in 1980, it was sold, renovated and was branded as the Devenish Design Centre, with small office and boutique retail.